PTR-MS

The “PTR-MS” mobile instrumentation is a platform attached to the AnaEE-France national research infrastructure since 2016. The mobile instrumentation measures the exchange of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) between different ecosystem compartments (soil, plant, fauna, micro-organisms, air). The platform is equipped with a proton transfer mass spectrometer (PTR-Qi-TOFMS Ionicon®) that detects and quantifies VOCs in air in real time. It is equipped to measure VOCs at different scales, from dm² to plot. Measurements can be taken in dynamic chambers in the laboratory or in the field (chambers, canopy profile and flow tower). The PTR-MS enables i) measurements in soil incubators to identify VOC profiles emitted as a function of the microbial population, or following the spreading of organic waste products; ii) field measurements to characterize emissions from soils and/or aerial parts of the ecosystem using chamber methods, with the aim of identifying compounds emitted and/or absorbed by the various ecosystem compartments; iii) measurements of total ecosystem flux at high temporal resolution to characterize exchanges at this scale. The PTR-MS Service was a 2019 highlight of the AgroEcoSystem department.